INDIE COMIX: Plan B, Josh Jenkins' Self-Publishing More Dangerous Than Bombs

By now you've listened to the Josh Jenkins' episode of the podcast and have gotten a good idea of the madman behind what is one of the coolest new series in the self-published indie comic scene. But I loved these books so much that I felt they needed a more thorough post.

PLAN B. The supersecret cadre of mad scientists looking for the ultimate weapon, an alternative to that ludicrous atomic bomb project. Maybe some bats with napalm strapped to them? That sounds like a plan, and as insane as it sounds, that's history for you. Professor Jenkins presents us with a team of iconic scientists and specialists that are a dysfunctional family of co-workers.

In book one THE HAUNTED LIFE OF DOCTOR ANOMALOUS we meet the good doctor Victor Anomalous, head of Plan B in the heyday of experimental creativity. We're introduced to each member of the team, giving us hints of the other archetypes represented here (adventurous cartographer, diabolical mystic, happy-go-lucky behaviorist, insane escape artist), but these glory days are not to last forever, and so the rest of the book deals with an elderly Dr. Anomalous dealing with his dodgy genius as the ghosts of his friends...co-workers...all come to haunt him into bettering his life.

The story is really well structured with very likeable characters that are a bit larger than life and all feel familiar. My personal favorite is Tumbler, the lunatic escape artist, but every character is fleshed out and anyone can find one character that resonates with them. If you happen to enjoy mad science, then you'll love it that much more. And for the science/history buffs, each chapter ends with a small snippet of true facts that relates to the chapter you've just read.

In that first book you get a full story arc for Dr. Anomalous, so you might wonder what book two, SAMUEL PROVIDENCE AND THE NEFARIOUS DR. FOIL holds in store for you my eager reader. Well, let me tell you, it takes that same world and approaches it from a drastically different angle, giving you a new appreciation for segments that you saw in book one, only this time giving you a murder mystery thriller surrounding the enigmatic and shadowy Samuel Providence. It is horror that lurks within these pages.

Upon reading the first book, you could say, ahh, what a keen little story of an aging mad scientist. But when you read book two, the rug is pulled out from underneath you and you're given a hint of a whole dark world that lies out there in the darkness of this Josh Jenkins' warped mind. We begin to see the whole operation from a bigger perspective, and the pull of this yawning cosmos is undeniable. I am looking forward to book three more than anything put out by Marvel or DC.

As for the artwork, Karl Slominski really delivers in every scene. It's cartoony when it's meant to be slapstick, sketchy when there's evil afoot, even crude (and hilarious) to demonstrate the ancient past of primordial man. It's a highly stylized black and white, caricature-esque style with lots of detail work, which usually winds up looking like a mess of lines when guided by a lesser hand. But I was never confused about who was who, what was happening, or the mood/tone throughout both books. In fact, both books are pretty flawlessly crafted. (Despite what Mr. Jenkins says.)

There's a lot of research, love, and craft put into these books and it is very evident almost from the first chapter. You'll laugh, you'll learn things (from mythology to fringe science), and you'll become invested in the world they are creating here. Dr. Anomalous' story is a great comedic lead-in, with Samuel Providence's dark history deepening the mystery. I honestly can't wait to read book three, THE FIVE LIVES OF JONATHAN TUMBLER where we'll learn more about...

Oh, but that's a secret.

Keep up to date with the Plan B Blog and begin reading book one as a (colored!) webcomic that comes with a bit of commentary. You can also follow Josh Jenkins on Twitter or become a fan of the series on Facebook.

Be seeing you.

K

Writer Spotlight: SmartGrrrl aka Michelle Wiener

When Kurt invited me to write something for Write Club, I was pleased -- and more than a little surprised. It hadn't been very long, maybe two weeks, since I'd put up a temporary page on my website with writing samples and a relatively calm but still sorta desperate plea for work. "Hey, if you like what you see here and what to hire me to write for you, call me. I AM AVAILABLE." While I was fantasizing about offers trickling in, I wasn't really expecting it.

I have worked in publishing since 2005. Before that, I was a writing instructor and PhD candidate a few revisions away from finishing my dissertation. My reasons for leaving academics aren't all that interesting -- chances are, you know someone else who left the profession for similar reasons. But among those reasons was this prickly feeling that I didn't much care for academic writing. Granted, once I had finished my dissertation, which traditionally requires one's academese to be at the pinnacle of complexity, and then further revised it for publication, I'd be able to write however I wanted and whatever I wanted, but I still felt confined and didn't much feel like facing another decade or so of writing within some predetermined institutionalized code just to prove that I could to people who would first give me a job and then maybe give me tenure. (But I'm not bitter.)

So I had my mid-30s career change, which scared me a little and terrified the hell out of my parents. I went into publishing because that made the most sense to me -- I knew I could write well, even if I was untested in the non-academic field, and editing couldn't be that much different than grading student papers and helping young writers find their voice. I was fortunate to land an associate editor job, writing the front of book blurbs and short interest pieces, and managed to get one feature-length story in before I left to become managing editor of a startup online magazine. And here's when I learned that the same job in publishing can mean extremely different things to different companies. I've worked at places where the managing editor does a great deal of the editing and copyediting, and others places where the ME holds a more administrative position, making sure copy circulates among writers and editors, but not really doing much of the work herself. I found managing to be not as fulfilling a job as I had hoped it would be -- I craved more hands on experience and more creative input. Fortunately I had a couple friends who were magazine editors at different craft magazines, and they threw a little writing work at me. Writing articles on the side was a great outlet and way to keep on top of things that interested me.

When I lost my job in June of last year, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do next. I was pretty sure I didn't want to have any sort of administrative/managerial job again, and equally sure that I wanted a job that would both require me to be creative and allow me to develop new skills and grow with the position. It is exceedingly tiresome and soul-sucking to have mastered all the skills you need for any one particular job, and then not be thought capable of or allowed to do anything else. In the back of my head I could hear a soft voice telling me to write, but I felt overwhelmed by the idea of starting out brand new at something that it seems everyone in this city wants to do.

Then one night I was having a conversation with friends, and one of them made a comment about how frustrating it can be to compete with all these other people who want to be published writers. And it wasn't until then that I realized, I AM a published writer. I've been published lots of times. Granted, my bylines are all in niche publications . . . but so what? And that's when that soft voice got a little louder, and kindly but firmly told me that it was about time I stopped thinking that this was something that I couldn't do, since I had already done it before.

I am still looking for full-time work (*cough* here's my LinkedIn profile) but I have rededicated myself to writing, both professionally and personally (*cough* here's my blog) (and here's another blog). I'm not afraid of exploring unconventional channels for possible writing gigs (*cough* I am available). What I'm starting to learn is that anything can make a good story. The most important thing that I've learned over the last couple months, however, is that any kind of positive action -- even doing something as seemingly silly as putting up an "About" page summarizing my work experience on my blog that only averages 40 hits a day -- tends to create forward momentum, and that is never a bad thing.

Single Issue Spotlight: PunisherMAX Butterfly By Valerie D'Orazio

More often than not, knowing a bit about an author's personal history greatly enriches both the reader and the reading. Such is the case with Valerie D'Orazio and her recent PunisherMAX: Butterfly one-shot. For those who are unfamiliar, it's time you looked her up. She's a fascinating woman, and her perspective will make you think deeper about your relationship and dedication to comics. Knowing a bit about Miss D'Orazio's history in the comic books industry adds a deeper layer of significance to PunisherMAX Butterfly. After all, the first comic book material she ever wrote was a Punisher pitch she sent to Marvel at the age of about 13. So, yeah, Valerie D'Orazio writing a PunisherMax one-shot as her grand return to comics is a pretty big deal in and of itself.

But even without this real world context, Butterfly is a phenomenal read. The story of a dissociative hit woman and her attempt to connect with the world via a tell-all manuscript, Butterfly, like so many other good crime stories, focuses on the protagonist's professional and existential crises. Abused and molested at an early age, Butterfly's ability to live outside of her mind is severely handicapped. Throughout her adolescent and adult life, she makes a series of failed attempts to feel anything other than anger, disgust, or apathy. Even in her manuscript, Butterfly struggles to convey a relatable story.

Granted, she is a hired killer, but that's not the real issue. Her editor explains that the manuscript lacks plot and structure, before advising her to write using the same step-by-step process she uses when killing. On both points he's right, but for the wrong reasons. What he sees as her failure is actually a reflection of his own: he cannot understand because he cannot relate. This is where the Punisher comes in. Chapter 13 of Butterfly's manuscript, which she is told is the most important chapter, details the first and only time she saw Frank Castle in action. It's during this encounter that Butterfly, for maybe the first time, feels genuine fear. Confronted with another deeply dissociated, homicidal personality, Butterfly feels briefly human. Needless to say, this complicated psychology is the stuff of fantastic crime fiction and must-read Punisher tales, and D'Orazio's exploration of these troubling character types through a female foil is refreshingly profound.

Beyond the criminal goodness of Butterfly, there is an underlying theme about the dangers of honest expression. Rather than feeling shoehorned in, this secondary thread is expertly woven into the narrative. By the nature of her manuscript, Butterfly is exposing the world to it's own dangerous truths; and not only is she revealing the world for the nasty place it can be, but in writing her story she also exposes herself to the murderous wrath of her employers. The fact that Butterfly is a woman in a traditionally male role makes this an even more pointed power struggle. One has to wonder if some of the conversations in the book were tweaked from D'Orazio's own experiences in the industry, but we'll save that speculation for another time. Without exploiting the sexual undertones of this conflict, D'Orazio shows that the suppression of truth can lead to a dangerous alienation from reality.

Finally, it should be said that in keeping with our month-long series on women in comics, this review purposely focused on Valerie D'Orazio and the themes of PunisherMAX Butterfly, largely ignoring artist Lawrence Cambpell. For the record, Cambpell's art is every bit as good as D'Orazio's writing, and it adds yet another layer of quality to this already incredible comic.